Cardiac surgeons' concerns, perceptions, and responses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on health care and cardiac surgery. We report cardiac surgeons' concerns, perceptions, and responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A detailed survey was sent to recruit participating adult cardiac surgery centers in North America. Data regarding cardiac surgeons' perceptions and changes in practice were analyzed. RESULTS: Our study comprises 67 institutions with diverse geographic distribution across North America. Nurses were most likely to be redeployed (88%), followed by advanced care practitioners (69%), trainees (28%), and surgeons (25%). Examining surgeon concerns in regard to COVID-19, they were most worried with exposing their family to COVID-19 (81%), followed by contracting COVID-19 (68%), running out of personal protective equipment (PPE) (28%), and hospital resources (28%). In terms of PPE conservation strategies among users of N95 respirators, nearly half were recycling via decontamination with ultraviolet light (49%), followed by sterilization with heat (13%) and at home or with other modalities (13%). Reuse of N95 respirators for 1 day (22%), 1 week (21%) or 1 month (6%) was reported. There were differences in adoption of methods to conserve N95 respirators based on institutional pandemic phase and COVID-19 burden, with higher COVID-19 burden institutions more likely to resort to PPE conservation strategies. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates the impact of COVID-19 on North American cardiac surgeons. Our study should stimulate further discussions to identify optimal solutions to improve workforce preparedness for subsequent surges, as well as facilitate the navigation of future healthcare crises.

Bilateral Internal Mammary Artery Use in Diabetic Patients: Friend or Foe?

BACKGROUND: Bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) grafting in diabetic patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting remains controversial. Our study compared morbidity and mortality between (1) diabetic and nondiabetic BIMA patients and (2) diabetic BIMA versus diabetic patients who underwent left internal mammary artery (LIMA) grafting only. METHODS: Patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting from July 2011 to June 2016 at any of the 10 Maryland Cardiac Surgery Quality Initiative centers were propensity scored across 16 variables. Diabetic BIMA patients were matched 1:1 by nearest neighbor matching to nondiabetic BIMA patients and were separately matched 1:1 to diabetic LIMA patients. We calculated observed-to-expected (O/E) ratios for composite morbidity/mortality, operative mortality, unplanned reoperation, stroke, renal failure, prolonged ventilation, and deep sternal wound infection and compared ratios among matched populations. RESULTS: During the study period, 812 coronary artery bypass grafting patients received BIMA grafts, including 302 patients (37%) with diabetes. We matched 259 diabetic and nondiabetic BIMA patients. O/E ratios were higher in matched diabetic (versus nondiabetic) BIMA patients when comparing composite morbidity/mortality, reoperation, stroke, renal failure, and prolonged ventilation (all O/E ratios >1.0); however, the O/E ratio for operative mortality was higher in nondiabetic BIMA patients. We additionally matched 292 diabetic BIMA to diabetic LIMA patients. Diabetic BIMA patients had a higher O/E ratio for composite morbidity/mortality, operative mortality, stroke, renal failure, and prolonged ventilation. CONCLUSIONS: In this statewide analysis, diabetic patients who received BIMA grafts (compared with diabetic patients with LIMA grafts or nondiabetic patients with BIMA grafts) had higher O/E ratios for composite morbidity/mortality as a result of higher O/E ratios for major complications.

Effects of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting on patient outcome.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is associated with postoperative myocardial stunning, hypothermia, formation of microemboli, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome, all of which may prolong recovery from coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. This study sought to compare outcomes in patients undergoing CABG off pump versus on pump. METHODS: Outcomes, including mortality and several morbidities, were reviewed in 1,623 on-pump patients and 683 off-pump patients. Morbidities assessed included postoperative bleeding, incidence of multiorgan dysfunction, and neurologic complications. Chi-square and t-test analysis were used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS: Mortality was 42% lower in the off-pump group than the on-pump group. Both critical care and total hospital length of stay were significantly shorter in the off-pump group. The incidence of postoperative bleeding requiring transfusion or a return to the operating room was reduced by 29% in the off-pump group and the incidence of multiorgan dysfunction was reduced by 31%. The off-pump patients also presented a significantly lower incidence of cerebral vascular accidents and seizures than on-pump patients. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there is an association between improved patient outcome and off-pump CABG surgery. The outcomes of this study show a statistically significant decrease in mortality, critical care length of stay, total hospital stay, incidence of bleeding requiring transfusion or return to the operating room, amount of blood transfused, incidence of multiorgan dysfunction, cerebral vascular accidents, and seizures in off-pump patients when compared with on-pump patients. Such results support the use of myocardial revascularization off pump as an alternative to CABG surgery on pump. CABG surgery off pump may allow a better postoperative clinical course in patients who are candidates for the procedure.